Goose Island Bourbon County Stout:
Hello all, and welcome back to a beer review rooted in nostalgia.  We all remember something that ties our love/passion/devotion to that thing that defines some part of us, no matter how large or small.  Me, despite really negative ties to it, is bourbon.  I love the mystique behind it, the fact that it’s the only unique American liquor, and it’s subtle yet complex varieties (and trust me, I have other passions but this is a public forum and I have to have some semblance of private life). As far as beer goes my passion is bourbon barrel aged brews and, really, there are quite a few of them but none of them are even close to this: Goose Island Bourbon County Stout.  This brew was first tasted by yours truly at their brewery/restaurant a few years ago and it blew my mind on the fact that beer could taste like THIS, little lone the fact that it knocked me off my barstool a lot like my first sip of Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA did as well.  The beer was poured from a bottle into a snifter glass (btw, this is a good thing if you have to drink your beer from a snifter glass) and is an inky black midnight color, no head save for a touch of carbonation bubbles on the rim of the glass and an nose of sweet fruits, chocolate and caramel malts.  The beers initial taste is of a very sweet beer that is based more on a rum cake sweetness than a candy (in other words, an alcoholic sweetness) and it blooms to a very thick boozy caramel sweetness on the mid tongue and the back end is one of sugar notes with bourbon hints that seem to fight with the roasted malts of the beer.  The after taste is a slight burnt sugar taste though there are noticeable remnants of sweetness in there and the thickness seems to develop even further to a cough syrup like level that coats the inner walls of the throat.  I still love my 120 minute IPA but this is a close #2, if not a 1(a) and 1(b).  I so wish this was available here in Texas, but sadly the closest you’ll get to it is Arkansas and Little Rock at that, so a road trip might be necessary if you’re really curious.  One bottle of this does me in for a night and at 15% ABV without any aging, this is isn’t at the 120 level but it‘s still more than enough.  It’s a different type of beer than the 120 starting with the fact that it’s a stout to the fact that its ABV can be attributed to bourbon barrel and not just hops.  So to wrap it up (I could go on but I’ll spare you my drivel) this is a very special beer which is worth trying if you ever travel past an area that carries it in the late November time frame and really, one bottle is more than enough for two people.  I took me over two hours to down this bottle and about 5 glasses of water to help dilute it in my system. Still worth it.